IT’S BARTY TIME TEARS ON CENTRE COURT AS CZECH RIVAL PUTS UP A FIGHT BUT CAN’T LAND CROWN FOR AUSSIE ACE ASHLEIGH CLAIMS FIRST TITLE
ASHLEIGH BARTY showed why she’s thetop Gun on the women’s tour with a ‘miracle’ victory over Karolina Pliskova. The world No.1 took full advantage of the stage fright her Czech opponent suffered in the first set.
And despite a rally from Pliskova in the second, Barty went on to win pretty comfortably 6-3 6-7 (7-4) 6-3 in one hour and 55 minutes.
In doing so, she became only the fourth player to claim the women’s singles final at the All England Club after lifting the girls’ junior singles title here.
She also became only the second Aussie woman to get her hands on thevenus Rosewater
Dish after two-time winner Evonne
Goolagong Cawley, whose last triumph on
Centre Court came back in 1980.
That was the year before a young actor called Tom Cruise got his big break in
Hollywood with the release of Endless Love and, four decades on, the superstar was among the onlookers who saw Barty claim her win.
Unfortunately for Cruise and the rest of those inside this famous arena, it wasn’t a classic final.they had to wait until the third set to be treated to some really good tennis.
But that won’t bother Barty, who claimed her second Grand
Slam title after her 2019 French Open victory.
She said: “It was the most incredible feeling I have ever experienced on a tennis court.
“There was certainly disbelief.
“To be successful here at Wimbledon, to achieve my biggest dream, has been absolutely incredible.
“And to think it happened on the 50th anniversary of
Evonne’s first victory here is incredible.wimbledon is where tennis was born, where so many hopes and dreams were born.”
Barty suffered a hip injury at the French Open in June and was touch and go even to travel to Wimbledon.
She added: “To be able to play here was nothing short of a miracle.
“I didn’t sleep a lot last night.
I was thinking of all the what-ifs. I hope I made Evonne proud.
“I have to thank every single person in this stadium.
You’ve made my dream so special.”
Barty, whose maternal grandparents hailed from England, stormed into a 4-0 lead after winning the first 14 points of the match and, although Pliskova did finally gather herself, the set was soon over.
The only positive for Pliskova was those three games meant she wouldn’t suffer a 6-0 6-0 defeat as she had in the Italian Open final against Iga Swiatek this year.
“I was thinking about the final in Rome and I thought, ‘This cannot be possible, it can’t happen again’,” she said.
Clawing her way back to victory looked very much a case of Mission: Impossible for
Pliskova.
But credit to the Czech, she showed her mettle in the second set and finally found some rhythm to make something of a contest of it.
However, the unforced errors returned in the final set with Barty celebrating her victory a decade after her first one here.
Pliskova added: “It was maybe one of the best matches she played against me. She was never off.
“It was a horrible start so I’m proud I found a way back, even though I was not even close to winning.
“I want to say Ash played an incredible tournament. I fought to make it difficult for her but she played very well so congrats to her and her team.
“I want to thank all my team. Without them I would not be here.”